| In Memorium: Tribute to 82nd Airborne Paratrooper Sergeant James Blue |
 I will never forget the morning in May of 94 as I was walking through the General Lee museum and had a chance encounter with First Sergeant James Blue. James had always been one of my heroes. And, over the years, we had talked airborne talk many times. I was fascinated and often overwhelmed with James as in my view, he was the epitome of the American paratrooper. That morning as we talked about our shared experience, James said to me, "You know I'm an 82d man"-and as all of us know-James was loyal to the 82d Airborne Division. But, he went on to say, "You know what we need is a book about this great man here and he walked over and pointed at the Rendezvous with Destiny speech of General Lee". And, then James put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You're just the person to write it." And, he ended it with the word, "airborne!"
Before I made a final decision on writing the book, I called and talked to James. He sent me a wonderful packet of material that inspired me to push on. Later on, I made a trip to Dunn and we spent a day together going to some of the historical sites and visiting the 82d Airborne Division. I listened to him. It was like living history. I asked James how he decided to become a paratrooper. He said it was while watching one of the early airborne demonstrations arranged by General Lee. James was standing on the side of the field watching and suddenly, he said, "I knew in my heart that my destiny was to be a paratrooper."
For me, 1st Sergeant James Blue is a national treasure, a Dunn Treasure. The poet Flavia said, "some people come into our lives and quickly go. Others come and touch us and we are never ever the same again." 1st Sergeant Blue touched my life.
Mrs. Blue and all the family, may God bless you richly. The spirit of this great man will forever be a part of all of us. So long and Airborne, First Sergeant.
Jerry Autry
Chaplain (Colonel), U. S. Army Retired
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| The Hoopla Over Same Sex Marriage and The New York Times Profiles |
 With all the hoopla surrounding gay marriages, you would think that everybody in the world is gay and traditional marriage is out the window. I don't think so. The NY Times has this section every Sunday where they profile some of the week's marriage. Don't have a clue how they choose. I always read them as they are so unusual.
I'm fascinated with the write-ups: the usual stuff but then some aspects just simply make you smile. Here is a couple in their fifties, their picture shows they could drop a few pounds but the story tells about their meeting, on line, missed the first date, went to the wrong Starbucks. Then reconnected. The relationship survived even when the dog ate the man's hearing aid. I'm not kidding, this is in the write-up.
Then, there's little sentences and you wonder, what was that! The last sentence on at least two of the write-ups says, "The previous marriage ended in divorce." Who needs that!
I love this, feature. They surely don't seem to be averse to gay marriage but there's only one featured in maybe twenty-five others--not a bad average I guess. One I liked, where one discovered the other in their alumni magazine, a playwright, living in NY; how unusual he thought for both of them; went to a small Lutheran college in the Midwest, ended up in NY, and both go to the same church. You guessed it, they met at Church, then afterwards, coffee, then dinner, and according to the story, a "smooch."
God bless America. jhl
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| WebzineBook Reviews: Moyers on America and Corporate Warriors |
Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times.Yesterday on NPR, I listened to Bill Moyers who has just penned his book
which is a compilation of writings during the Vietnam era. I've only perused it but looks good. There are some revelations. One is how troubled LBJ was about Vietnam and his inability to bring it to a close. Most presidents get to some point where they thing their power can do it all--well, LBJ couldn't conquer Vietnam. (And, our present Prez can't conquer Iraq.)
According to Moyers, Johnson often went to Church in the middle of the night to pray for guidance on what to do about Vietnam. And, with every loss of life, something in him died. Finally, it was too much and he chose to not seek a second term. This fact has always impressed me since LBJ loved power above everything or so it seemed. Vietnam had beaten him. To be honest, it made me feel pretty good to know that LBJ had a heart. Vietnam beat many of us but to somehow see the marrying of those of us who suffered emotionally and with those doing the same politically--pretty nice to know.
One question asked by Terry Gross to Moyers was about McNamara's film, Fog of War. I saw the film and absolutely didn't get it. Moyers said that he did not "get it" either. For one thing, I thought McNamara was attempting to redeem his reputation which is impossible; "sorry, terribly sorry." Can't be done but according to Moyers, the documentarian had a message or something he wanted to say that was outside of McNamara.
Where I see Moyers comments about Vietnam's effect upon LBJ as relating to our good intentions in Iraq which has gone to hell in a handbasket, is that there seems to be no one in the present government willing to take responsibility. And, worst still, nothing seems to touch the president, Rumsfeld, and even the generals on the Pentagon staff. They are all incredibly averse to admitting mistakes. I understand that and there's plenty of precedence before them but sometimes I think it might be nice to say, I "f..... up!" What about George W. deciding not to go for a second term because of Iraq. Like LBJ, step aside with the idea that someone else might be the one to handle what we're into, i. e., John McCain. Don't be losing sleep over this idea.
Kelly Thomas
Corporate Warriors: by P. W. Singer.When someone like Rumsfeld says we are contracting out minor soldier jobs like mowing lawns, he doesn't tell the whole story. What he doesn't tell us is that we are contracting a private army to fight our wars and to not be subject to military law. Singer says this is a real danger. I agree.
Kelly Thomas
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| E-mail:Young soldiers will have to be punished |
The young soldiers will have to be punished, their lives are ruined forever. The greater sin is those above them; we failed them in a way that is not even decernable at this time. Any of us with older children know that they have the capacity to be unbelievably stupid, to make idiotic decisions: for most, they are not life destroying as they are in the Iraqi situation; but, on occasion they are; kids who commit murder at Columbine, etc.; take a group of unsophisticated, relatively uneducated kids and with no supervision and leadership and this is what you get. Unforgivable. And, it has to start at the top.
We are at war and we've lost it and we might as well admit it and get the hell out.
A Vietnam vet, class of 69-70
TALK ABOUT PROPHESY
Whether regarding the Vietnam war, America's cold war assassinations or our misguided former alliance with Saddam Hussein, American officials keep their eyes fixed on the future. They rarely admit responsibility for failure, for costly meddling or for large-scale human suffering. They resist debate-internally or publicly-on how good intentions went astray. And they most certainly don't apologize to those harmed.
Samantha Power, A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
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